So how is BT going about signing up cricket fans?

A recent Ashes-related BT Sport press release asked the following leading question somewhere near the bottom: “Not a BT customer and don’t want to switch your broadband to us?”

You don’t ask a question like that without having an answer lined up. The answer was this: “If it’s just our wide-range of premium sport that interests you then you can also simply sign-up to watch BT Sport right now.”

Yes, yes, yes. This is exactly what we want. No phone line, broadband, or other TV package serving as some sort of eye-wateringly expensive and unnecessary entry fee – just the one thing we want.

We only want access to BT Sport so we only want to pay for that.

Huzzah?

Following the link somewhat confusingly takes you to the View and Manage your Broadband Extras page. Among the very many frequently asked questions on that page (maybe you should rewrite the page if so much is left unclear) is: “Can I pay for the BT Sport app if I don’t have BT broadband?”

The answer, apparently, is: “No, you need to get a BT Broadband or BT TV package, or get BT Sport on Sky Digital Satellite Platform.”

BT doesn’t seem to be on the same page as itself on this one.

Sadly, we’ve checked all around their site and that does seem to be correct. Maybe BT have got something in the pipeline, but as things stand you do need to subscribe to their broadband or TV service to get access to the BT Sport App.

Update

No, you don’t. See below for how to get BT Sport via various different broadband/TV providers.

Signing up for BT Sport via Plusnet

This page appears to imply that it’s only a fiver a month, which is a bit of a result (if true).

Signing up for BT Sport via TalkTalk

The bad news is it’s £22.99 a month and there’s also a sign-up fee of £20 if you commit for a year and £35 if you only commit for a month.

The Ashes runs for over a month, so the minimum cost of subscribing to BT Sport if you’re a TalkTalk customer is £80.98.

Signing up for BT Sport via EE

EE seems to be offering its customers three months of the BT Sport app for free. More details on this page.

If you’re on an EE mobile contract, we suppose you could take them up on this and then work out how to cast the footage to your TV.

Christ this is complicated. Don’t blame us. We’re just the messenger.

Disclaimer

We’re doing our best here, but thanks to the opaque policies and labyrinthine websites of the various media companies involved, there’s a decent chance that some of this is wrong – and even if it isn’t, it is of course subject to change.

Re: EE I’ve been trying to work out how to cast the BT sports app on to the telly for the last two months and I can’t do it. You definitely can’t do it through the usual routes – so if anyone knows how to do this let me know.

The actual app is actually pretty good, it’s just a shame you can only watch it on a tiny screen.

One of my sarcastic offspring is coming round to show me how to do it, apparently this will be the 2nd and last time but there is talk of needing to plug something into the telly. Apparently I received the ‘something’ for Christmas last year and if I put my looking glasses on its probably behind the Ferguson Video Star.

Plays havoc with my working day in Dubai here – starts around 4am in the morning (which i get up for) and then writes off my morning productivity with it on ‘in the background’ before falling asleep at my desk post lunch in the afternoon. Still very much looking forward to it though.

Their business plan is harvesting the disposable income of middle class families who ‘may as well get sky’.

The notion that things are changing hasn’t reached them yet because it will take a lot more of us to convince them, by which time, the value of cricket broadcasting may have already fallen beyond repair.